All I've ever heard of the Gigolo Aunts was one of their first CDs, back in the early 90's. I liked it, but it just didn't stick with me, and I eventually got rid of it. Now I'm intrigued, partly because I know Linda loves them, and the woman obviously knows her power pop.

Linda, or anybody who knows their material: Where should I start?

Greg,

All of the original Gigolo Aunts albums and EPs can be acquired dirt cheap via Amazon's third party dealers:

Full On Bloom: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000001HV9/?tag=imwan-20

Flippin' Out: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000008G0B/?tag=imwan-20

Learn To Play Guitar: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000005AAQ/?tag=imwan-20

Minor Chords And Major Themes: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00000I0RA/?tag=imwan-20

Pacific Ocean Blues: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000089CLF/?tag=imwan-20

Of course, there are a bunch of stray tracks on singles and compilations, and it will become more complicated and sometimes expensive if you should decide to become an Aunts completist. But the titles I listed above will give you about 90% of what they recorded, and they're uniformly fantastic. (IMLO. )

I once heard Gigolo Aunts play a note-perfect version of Television's Marquee Moon at the Troubadour. If that recording is floating out there, I would love to get a copy.

Oh, me too!

Here are the Aunts covering Television's "Friction" at an early gig in Boston, 1989. (YMMV, but I don't think they really found their sound until 1992. This performance doesn't seem that great to me. Television have always been cited by Dave Gibbs as an influence, though.)

Thanks for the advice and the links, Linda. I'll probably start with the most recent stuff and work back. Do you have a favorite?

I recommend "Flippin' Out" as the perfect place to start. It worked for me back in '94, and I've been a fan ever since. None of their subsequent albums blew me away like that one, but that's not a criticism...they're all very good to great.

Pacific Ocean Blues is my personal favourite.

If we are voting on favorites, I'm with Linda on Pacific Ocean Blues.

I ended up buying Minor Chords and Major Themes and Pacific Ocean Blues. Now if I can find the time to listen to them. I like what I've heard so far. They're obviously a very underappreciated band.

Hope you enjoy the albums, Greg. (And, of course, I'll ban you if you don't. ) Very underappreciated is a perfect description. I'd like to believe that future generations of indie guitar bands will consider The Gigolo Aunts to be a seminal influence, sort of like what happened to Big Star.